Celestial Star QAL: The End & Winners!

I want to say a HUGE thank you for everyone who participated in the Celestial Star QAL with me!! I loved your comments, kind words, seeing your blocks and projects come together and especially the finishes!! It was a blast!! {{Mwah}}!! :)


I also can't pass up giving a huge shout out to the amazing sponsors!! I hope you will continue to visit their shops and support them!! They are great! :)

 

   

 

 

I was going to push to finish my quilt, but the quilt back I made, I ended up being very unhappy with it. So I scratched it. I decided to go with a one print back and if the color is what it is on my screen, I will be so excited with it!! I'm growing to really be a pink kind of girl. Weird - for me. But I like it. :) Of course, another Anna Maria Horner print for the back:

Pretty Potent Flannel Banner Day Icing. 

I purchased this at Fabric.com, and was so happy it was even on sale! PLUS going through Ebates.com I got an extra 3% back. Not much, but it adds up. :) AND I'm so happy I wasn't at all tempted to add other things to my cart. Wahoo for shopping progress. ;)

I'm hoping to still get the quilt finished quickly. I can't wait to use it! Plus get some awesome photos of it!! :) You can see the best photos I've taken so far in this post. 

Alright, now to the part you've all been waiting for!! The winners!! Drum roll please...

For the 1 Block category, the winner of the $20 Westwood Acre gift card is Amy Morhan

For the 2-4 Block category, the winner of the $50 Fat Quarter Shop gift card is Cindy

For the 5+ Blocks Category, the winner of the $50 I Don't Do Dishes gift card and the Mochi Dots Bundle from Knotted-Thread is Kate

The winner of the Butterfly Dance bundle from Llama Fabrics is Kirsten

 

The winner of the Liberty scrap pack bundle from Queen Bee Fabrics is Lori

And the winner of the Birch charm pack from I Don't Do Dishes is Bria

Congrats everyone!! I will contact you about your prizes! :)

I hope you will keep linking up your blocks and your projects as you finish them!! I love to see all your beautiful creations! You are amazing! :) For those of you on Instagram, be sure to tag your photos with #fbpPatterns!! I'll be catching up on those spotlights and prizes soon. ;)


Thanks again everyone! It's like a bitter-sweet farewell being done with the QAL. It was such an intense part of my life for the last few months, I don't know what I'm going to do with all of this free time now. ;) lol. :)

Have a great week!!

Celestial Star QAL: Link Up Your Final Projects HERE!!!

Wahoo!! It's time to link up your final Celestial Star projects!! Can you believe it?! It got a little quiet there towards the end, but this has been such a fun QAL! I can't wait to see everyone's projects all together!!

PLEASE read the link up guidelines carefully!!!!!

There are different categories for linking up your projects. Please read through each category description before picking the category you want to enter in, as there are different options for how you can link up your projects. YOU CAN ONLY ENTER EACH PROJECT ONCE! Do not link up the same project in more than one category... see details for more info.


Before we get into all that, I want to go over the awesome prizes!!

First, I want to give a HUGE shout out to our sponsors who gave out prizes earlier in the QAL.

Pink Castle Fabrics for two beautiful fat eight bundles!

Fat Quarter Shop for giving away two $25 gift certificates!

  

I Don't Do Dishes AND Material Girl Quilts for their amazing FQ bundles!

For the Grand Prizes:

1 Block projects: 1 - $20 Gift Certificate donated by Westwood Acres 

2-4 Block projects: $50 Gift Certificate donated by the Fat Quarter Shop

5+ Block quilts: $50 Gift Certificate donated by I don't do dishes AND 1 - fat eight bundle of Mochi Linen dots donated by Knotted-Threads

More Grand Prizes: Winners will be picked at random from all entries.

Fat quarter bundle of Butterfly Dance by Cinderberries donated by Llama Fabrics

 

Liberty Scrap Pack bundle donated by Queen Bee Fabrics

Birch by Joel Dewberry Charm Pack donated by I don't do dishes

How to Win!!

The categories are:

• 1 Block
• 2-4 Blocks
• 5+ Blocks

The simple rules:

If you only made 1 block. Enter your project in the "1 Block" category.
If you made a quilt top with 2-4 Blocks, enter it in the "2-4 Blocks" category.
If you made a quilt top with 5 or more blocks, enter it in the "5+ Blocks" category.

pretty basic right?!


The Complex rules:

If you made 2 or more blocks that are in separate projects, say 3 pillows, you can enter them each individually in the "1 Block" category (creating 3 different entries), OR you can enter them all together in the "2-4 Blocks" category (1 entry), or a combination of the two (1 block entered in the 1 block category, and the other two blocks entered in the 2-4 Block category = 2 total entries). YOU MAY NOT ENTER THE SAME BLOCK IN TWO CATEGORIES! (if you enter 3 blocks in the second category, you can't enter one of those three blocks in the 1 block category. Got it?!) Same goes for the 5+ Blocks category.

Here are two of my finished pillows.

 (a pillow I made for a friend, I used the included border pattern with this one)

Say I was going to enter these two pillows. I could have two entries in the "1 Block" category, or one entry in the "2-4 Blocks" category.

IF your multiple blocks are sewn together in one project, like a quilt top, you may NOT break up the blocks individually and enter in separate entries. A single project counts as one entry only. Only separate projects may be combined into a single entry.

 Does that make sense??? I am not sure how many people made projects with 2-4 blocks, but I do know that a few people made more than one single item. SO this way I know there can be at least one entry in each category, if that ends up to be how it is... anyway.


More guidelines:
In this blog post I said I thought I remembered saying that a quilt top with 5+ blocks does not have to be quilted and bound, but the top does need to be finished to count. I tried to find which post I said that in, but I couldn't. But if I did, I'll stick to my word. A large quilt with this pattern is a lot of work, (trust me! I know!) so I think if you've finished an entire quilt top of blocks, it should still be eligible for a prize. SO for the "5+ Blocks" category, if it's a complete quilt top (NOT five or more individual blocks) it does NOT have to be a finished quilt. 

Sound good?!!



Alright, ready, Set, LINK UP!! :)


1 Block Projects

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   



2-4 Blocks Projects

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   



5+ Blocks Projects

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Winners will be announced in a week from today, on Monday October 6th!

Good luck!! and thanks for joining me!!

I'll be sure to share the rest of my progress shots this week and my finished quilt by Monday!! :)

Sponsor Introduction: Knotted-Thread

As the Celestial Star  QAL gets closer to the end (final link up opens Sept 29th - next week!!), I am excited to introduce you to one more amazing sponsor, Knotted-Thread!!

Jennifer is awesome! She makes amazing projects, has a fabulous shop with great products and prices! (she really does have great prices - which always is a good thing.) Anyway, we've been friends for a long time now, and it's been a joy getting to know her. One of the best things that always stands out to me about Jennifer, is her willingness to help people. Two years ago she organized a group on Flickr to make quilts for Hurricane Sandy victims. It was maybe one of the first experiences I've had, besides the do.Good Stitches group, where I've been able to contribute to quilts for a great cause such as this. It was a neat experience, and anyway, it really stuck with me, and made a big impact on me. and I know that little story doesn't do her justice, so I'll just say, yep, Jennifer is awesome. :) Here's some more about her fabulous shop...

Pretty Potent by Anna Maria Horner

 Knotted-Thread is an online retail fabric shop specializing in designer fabric bundles. We stock our shop with the latest in designer fabrics to meet all of your quilting needs. Knotted-Thread offers complete line bundles as well as smaller partial bundles and custom bundles that can only be found at Knotted-Thread! We also offer notions like Aurifil thread and patterns as well as designer flannel for extra soft backing on your quilts.

Knotted-Thread was started in 2012 by Jennifer Istok. An avid quilter, Jennifer decided to start her fabric business as a side business to her elementary teaching position. She ran her business from a spare bedroom and cut, folded, and packaged all of the orders herself. Jennifer takes her business very seriously and handles every email, transaction and package personally. Knotted-Thread was Jenn's "someday" dream until one day she decided to make that someday  today. Why wait for someday to start your dreams if you can make them a reality now? 

Hatbox by Alexia Marcelle Abegg

Currently, Knotted-Threads is running a summer special on yardage. In the shop there is a section entitled "Summer Sale" where you can find $6 yards of fabric! Hurry over because once its gone, its gone!

Moonshine by Tula Pink

She also has super great blender bundles, and mixed bundles that would be great for stash building. :)

 

Sundae Prints - Miss Kate by Bonnie and Camille

Jennifer has generously donated a fat eight bundle of Mochi Linen Dots as part of the grand prize for anyone entering the 5+ blocks category. (prizes is combined with a $50 gift certificate to I Don't Do Dishes).

I think these are gorgeous!!!

Thank you Jennifer!!

Be sure to stop by her shop and see all the great items she has!! :)

Happy sewing everyone!! 

How is it all coming along? 

I am working on my quilt back and should have it finished today - with an update. Can't wait to start quilting!!! I'm super excited to start using this quilt, especially since it's starting to get really cold here. :)

Sponsor Introduction: Material Girl Quilts

I am so excited to introduce you to Amanda of Material Girl Quilts!

We probably met on Flickr, a long time ago. I don't even remember. But we've been friends for a long time. She actually was one of my pattern testers for the My First Alphabet pattern, and I actually saw her post about it on her blog today, so I have to share. ;) lol. (My browser pulled it up somehow as I was looking for something else. funny.) Anyway, Amanda has amazing talent!! And she's super duper nice! And I'm so happy she is a part of the Celestial Star QAL! So now I'll let her share a little of her story...

First I have to share a picture of this beautiful quilt she made, Happy Geese. This is just one of the patterns you can purchase in her shop.

 

My name is Amanda and I’m a fabric addict! I love to sew, craft and most importantly quilt. I enjoy sharing handmade items and ideas with others and hope to never stop finding new things to create.

This passion for creating led me to open a shop on Etsy www.materialgirlquilts.com that sells gorgeous fabrics, patterns and quilts (with a dream to some day open a brick and mortar shop near me). My goal with the shop is to help others like me find beautiful fabrics for their handmade creations. Whether it be in quilts, clothes, personal accessories or whatever makes their heart happy! I specialize in pre-cuts and hand picked fabric bundles. And even though I'm starting out small, I have BIG dreams for the shop in the future :)

Amanda has generously offered to giveaway this beautiful bundle of Moda Crossweave!

I would love to sew something up with this!!

You can enter to win this bundle, as well as a bundle of Heather Bailey's Up Parasol, when you link up your quilting photos starting tomorrow!  Come back for details. :)

Amanda has a lot of beautiful fabrics in her shop. Including yardage, bundles, and precuts. Here is one that always catches my eye. Waterfront Park by Violet Craft.

Thank you so much Amanda!! 

I hope you will all stop by and say hi, check out her blog, and/or follow her on Instagram! (@MaterialGirlQuilts)